Kaithal: A pregnant Dalit woman was allegedly abducted and raped by two youths in Kalyat area of the district in the 15th incident of sexual assault on women within a month in Haryana.

The two accused, Rakesh and Pawan, were arrested today after a case of rape was registered against them on the basis of statement made by the 19-year-old victim about the incident yesterday, SP (Kaithal) Kuldeep Singh Yadav said.

"The girl was medically examined, and the possibility of sexual assault cannot be ruled out. It was also revealed that she was five months pregnant," the SP said.

"When we enquired from the family about this, they said she was married and was staying with them for past some days," Yadav said.

During the investigations, it came to light that the girl had made a call to one of her rapists in the wee hours after which the two met, he said.

"The girl and the two arrested youths knew each other well.

We are making further investigations and have registered a case on the complaint of the girl," he said.

The victim had made the statement before the magistrate and levelled charges of rape against the accused.

This is the 15th incident of sexual assault during the past one month on women that include many teenaged girls in various parts of Haryana. PTI

Chandigarh: Another Dalit girl in Haryana has alleged that she was gang-raped by two youths, police said on Wednesday.

The girl from Kalayat area of Kaithal district, 140 km from here, alleged that she was raped on Monday by two men who abducted her and took her to the fields. They dumped her late Monday evening after tying her hands.

Police in Kaithal said both the accused were arrested following a complaint by the victim. Further investigations were on.

The victim was medically examined on Tuesday and rape was confirmed.

With this, 15 cases of rapes in Haryana have been reported in just 31 days.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday visited Haryana's Narwana area in Jind district to meet the family of a minor Dalit gang-rape victim who committed suicide after being sexually exploited on Saturday.

Girls from the Dalit community have been raped in Hisar, Sonipat and Rohtak district in the past one month.

Haryana has seen gang-rape and rape cases in several districts, including Rohtak, Hisar, Jind, Bhiwani, Yamunanagar, Panipat, Sonipat, Ambala, Karnal, Faridabad and Kaithal in the past one month. IANS

LUCKNOW: Mayawati's big show on Tuesday brought smiles on the faces of book sellers participating in the ongoing National Book Fair. For publishers dealing in dalit literature, Maya's maha rally was a golden opportunity to double up their sales. In fact, the organisers said that there has been a record sale of book on dalit literature especially biographies of Mayawati and Kanshiram.

"Many publishers who had come from outside Lucknow for the book fair had put up their stalls at the venue where the rally was organised. Not only that, people who flocked the book fair in the past two days demanded books on the BSP founder Kanshi Ram and the party supremo Mayawati,'' said Manoj Chandel, secretary, Knowledge Tree Foundation (KTF), organiser of book fair.

Shopkeepers said that only books on dalit icons helped them generate revenue that crossed the Rs 5 lakh mark. "The total sale of materials related to dalit leaders has exceeded in the past two days. Many BSP supporters who earlier visited the book fair bought a lot of material based on dalits and sold it at the rally,'' said a sales executive of Samyak Publication from New Delhi.

What's interesting was that biographies on Kanshi Ram and Mayawati did a good business, literally. "Despite the high price of these books (Rs 1,000 each), people bought more than 30 copies each of the two books. Even the biography of Dr BR Ambedkar was high in demand,'' said another shopkeeper. Besides, there was surge in the sale of OBC and Buddhist literature. Postures, 3D photos, pens, lockets and wrist band bearing the picture of dalit icons or logo of BSP were also in vogue.

"I was curious to read about Mayawati. I want to know about her works, and her life journey. I think her biography would give me enough information about the women,'' said Anoop Kumar, a teacher who picked up a book on Mayawati. Many others bought dictionary of schedule castes worth Rs 15,000. The dictionary consists of details of all the castes that fall under the said category.

A rapid increase in population in recent years seems to have placed a strain on the locality

A visit to the long and winding Devara Jeevanahalli (D.J. Halli) Main Road, which begins at the D.J. Halli Police Station on Tannery Road, is an adventure in many ways. First, there are auto drivers who refuse to go anywhere near the area; others fear its reputation for being a dangerous traffic zone: Altaf, auto driver, says, "Until the start of this road, the IPC [Indian Penal Code] will apply. Once you enter the area, it is all jungle rules."

And then there's the task of actually walking on the road. Vehicles of all sizes do, in fact, zoom in all directions; people have to dodge large heaps of garbage and puddles of water in order to get around.

More often than not, D.J. Halli has found itself in the news for the wrong reasons, especially in recent times. For instance, Baby Afreen was from a nearby area; residents have been often hit by intense water shortages, sewage draining problems and chikungunya. A rapid increase in population over the last few years seems to have placed a strain on the locality.

Ask Umme Salma (34), who has a business selling dress material and artificial jewellery in D.J. Halli. She has lived here for over 10 years, and testifies to the rapid changes in the area: "Now everywhere there are new shops, new buildings. The roads are dirtier. There aren't enough schools, especially primary schools. We fall ill often because of the garbage problem, take some medicine and go on with our lives," she says.

C. Shekhar, a Congress worker in the area, grew up in D.J. Halli and ran a cycle repair store as a young man. Today, his shop has morphed into an office of the Congress (as a reminder of his humble past, he still retains the dusty cycles behind it). He, too, points out that the area has quickly become overcrowded: he recalls a lake, the Modi Kere, which has disappeared.

Omnipresent figure

There's another curious feature of the area, perhaps signalled by the large printed cardboard arch covered with prints of B.R. Ambedkar that greets visitors heading towards the D.J. Halli, K.G. Halli and Tannery Road side of town. On entering D.J. Halli, several spots — walls, buildings, boards — bear vibrant portraits of Ambedkar, sometimes in conjunction with other figures such as Buddha, Thiruvalluvar, Kempe Gowda and even Subhash Chandra Bose.

D.J. Halli is home to the offices of more than one political group: the Socialist Democratic Party of India, the Dalit Panthers of India and the Congress all have a local presence.

The area has seen its share of communal tension, and is often referred to as a 'sensitive' area. Small issues flare up quickly, says A.J. Khan, who runs the Karnataka Dalit and Minorities Sene, which has an office on D.J. Halli Main Road.

"A majority of the residents are Dalits and minorities, who have not had access to proper education. Laws that apply to areas like Jayanagar hold good here too, but are not 'applied' due to lack of education," he says. According to Nazia Masood, who works in the D.J. Halli branch of microfinance organisation Lifeline Trust, the intense amount of political activity works to the area's detriment. "There are a lot of young political leaders, who have far-reaching influence. There are a lot of factions, so things very quickly blow out of proportion."

But for residents, life goes on. Children fly kites, attend one of the many nearby government schools; festivals are celebrated, raucously; small enterprises — from mobile stores to tea shops — continue. "Adjust karte hain, karna padta hai [We adjust; we have to]," says Mahmuda S. (39), who has been working at her stitching business since she was 12 years old.

With a series of reports of rape and torture of Dalit women and girls emanating from Haryana, the Bharatiya Janata Party today charged the Haryana government with not only failing to protect them but also remaining insensitive. It demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for the failure of the police to take action in this regard.

"The culprits are moving freely. No action is being taken against them," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. Instead of taking action against those involved in the crime, the government was pressurising the victims to not register cases, he added.

"Due to the insult and pressure from the government, a few girls have committed suicide in the state," he said.

The party also criticised Congress president Sonia Gandhi who visited Jind district, stating that meeting people and showing sympathy would not solve the problem. It could be addressed only when the state machinery booked the culprits.

..................................... Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.